Why Marketers Can’t Ignore Microsoft Search Network

Brands are always on the lookout for ways to reach new audiences, increase campaign effectiveness, and establish their online presence. But when it comes to entirely new platforms, it can be tempting for digital advertisers to stick with what they know. For these marketers, it’s time to step outside their comfort zone and adapt to a channel left potentially untouched by your company: Microsoft Ads.

Here’s why adding Microsoft Search Network to your marketing mix can boost your overall campaign metrics, gain new audiences through its unique product integrations, and prove to be a no-brainer in the coming year.

Open Doors to New Audiences with Microsoft Search Network

Bing’s main demographic consists of users between ages 45-54 with an annual household income of more than 100k. Currently, Bing’s share of the US desktop search market exceeds 36%, with an audience that spends 19% more online than the average internet searcher. While the overall volume doesn’t stack up against Google, the ability to reach this audience through Bing’s variety of product integrations and the relatively low volume of competition makes Microsoft’s search product an efficient addition to current ad budgets.

These same integrations allow advertisers more precise age and location-targeting levers to zone-in on this valuable segment of online shoppers, an invaluable tool in the coming age of limited data access and the increasing importance of accurate customer profiles.

Why Bing’s Product Integrations Matter

Bing is the default search engine for all Microsoft Office applications, Skype, Xbox, Cortana, and Alexa home devices. Leaning into Alexa-based searches now could pay major dividends for advertisers, as the voice search market continues to expand rapidly worldwide. Voice-based shopping on home search devices like the uber-popular Echo Dot are expected to be worth $40 billion in 2022. Consumer spending via voice assistants is expected to reach an 18% market share over the next two years — sponsored Alexa answers and local businesses eager to show up on “near me” searches mark just the beginning of a whole host of opportunities for voice search advertisers.

In addition to Alexa devices and the Microsoft Office suite, Bing searches also include a unique integration with Linkedin. Integration with LinkedIn can be a gamechanger, particularly for companies seeking B2B sales, by allowing age, gender, company, industry and job function targeting based on the reliable data pulled from individual LinkedIn profiles. These fine-tuned targeting levers will be increasingly valuable to marketers as digital marketing evolves to focus mainly on first-party data, giving Bing an edge when building trustworthy user profiles.

Own the Competition with Improved Campaign Metrics

What Bing searches may lack in volume they make up for in campaign efficiency. Fewer brands calling for attention means an easier time for savvy marketers to make their voices heard through the noise — leading to lower average cost-per-click, higher click-through rates, and CPAs 30% lower on average. Adtaxi’s own in-house expert Jim Job recommends allocating about 15-20% of the overall search budget to Microsoft ads, “Because even though 20% of the intent-based search is done there,” Job says, “the average CPC on Bing is about 30-35% less.”

Blending Google and Bing ads together can lead to improved ROI across the board, and can be experimented with as easily as importing your brand’s existing Google campaigns into Microsoft’s revamped dashboard. Both audiences and optimizations will require different approaches post-launch, but readying a test campaign on Bing to explore this new audience can be done in an afternoon — and provide big results down the road.

How Microsoft Ads Can Change Your Marketing Trajectory

An age of turbulent consumer behavior has led to entirely new brand preferences and a rare opportunity for advertisers to establish themselves as leaders in their respective industries. Bing is uniquely positioned to help those advertisers by boosting its position as a search alternative for brands interested in softer competition, higher-spending shoppers, and a new era of voice-based searches.

While overtaking Google’s search volume is far from likely, 136M unique Bing searchers and a user-friendly backend campaign setup make Microsoft ads a simple and powerful addition to your brand’s existing efforts. Advertisers looking for creative ways to drive down CPAs and provide valuable insights into new audiences free from the hustle and noise of Google’s results page can maximize their marketing by adding Microsoft to the mix.